Overview

• Thomas D’Alba was a 40-year-old former Folgore paratrooper from Legnano who spent a decade teaching drums before enlisting in Ukraine’s International Legion under its military intelligence directorate two years ago.
• Ukrainian activist Vladislav Maistrouk first announced on social media that D’Alba fell around mid-June while fighting on the Donbas front.
• The Italian Embassy in Kiev officially confirmed him as the seventh Italian volunteer killed in Ukraine and noted his body remains unrecovered in enemy-held ground.
• A small but significant number of Italian nationals have joined Ukraine’s defense, taking on combat duties and offering cultural and humanitarian support.
• The inability to retrieve D’Alba’s remains highlights the difficulties of casualty verification and body recovery in territories held by opposing forces.